French probe Chinese link in Renault spy scandal

French intelligence services are investigating a possible Chinese connection in the Renault industrial espionage affair.

Three Renault executives, one a member of the management committee of the partially-state-owned carmaker, have been suspended, and are under suspicion of selling secrets in the Renault-Nissan electric car project, particularly in the battery development business.

“The Renault affair is like light from a torch that suddenly illuminates this reality which we did not want to see, which is unpleasant to look at, because it highlights the problem of an economic world that is not peaceful despite the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade a while ago, despite the WTO, and that the world of business is a conflictual one,” said the director of the French School of Economic Warfare, Christian Harbulot.

Especially worrying for Renault is its battery development, a one and a half billion euro investment, that is unprotected by patents.

Analysts note the case is unusual as espionage suspicions usually concern lower-level employees.

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